


I Was Hurting, and You Knew

by TheatricSunflower



Category: Tetsuwan Atom | Astro Boy
Genre: AU, And also Hamegg, Astro Boy (2003), Astro's been through a lot, Gen, He really needs a hug, Protective Siblings, Sibling Love, Uran is a Good Sister, Uran is going to fight Tenma, he gets one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-01
Updated: 2020-09-01
Packaged: 2021-03-07 03:21:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,491
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26230108
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheatricSunflower/pseuds/TheatricSunflower
Summary: Ever since the fiasco with Doctor Mini Mini, Uran couldn't sleep.(Title from Ready Now by dodie)
Relationships: Astro & Uran
Comments: 5
Kudos: 32





	I Was Hurting, and You Knew

**Author's Note:**

> hey guys! This fic is connected to an au that you can read about [Link Here](https://theatricsunflower.tumblr.com/post/627308641410744320/the-astro-boy-2003-au-ive-decided-to-call)

Uran couldn't sleep.

She’d been tossing and turning in her bed for what felt like years, but sleepiness would not come to her. She sighed, and turned to look at the clock for what felt like the millionth time that night. 2:27. She groaned and ran her hands over her face. Come on, she thought. Just stop thinking about it. The truth was, there was a reason for her insomnia. A week ago, she woke from a microscopic bug induced coma feeling fuzzy. Her incredibly relieved brother had told her that she had been attacked by a weird short guy in order to try to get access to his systems. He’d admitted to her that he’d peeked inside of her memories, and they shared a heart-felt moment where they hugged and said they loved each other.

Surprisingly enough, none of that was what was bothering her. Yeah, she was a little spooked by what happened. She definitely took Astro’s advice of “don’t talk to strangers.” more seriously. She used to think that that advice was born out of his own anti-social tendencies, but now she knows better.

No, the thing that was bugging her was what happened when her brother was inside her head. Specifically, their brains connecting. It wasn’t hard to get over him seeing her memories. He’s known her since she’d been born, and there wasn’t really anything to hide. What really concerned her was what she got from him. 

At least, what she thought she got from him. There wasn’t really any other explanation. She didn’t know much about her brother’s past, only the most basic of details that she overheard from him and the Doctor. She knew he wasn’t created by her dad. He was created by a man named Doctor Tenma. Tenma apparently lost his son, and then created Astro as a replacement, and then got rid of him. Why would he do something like that?! Why go to all the trouble of bringing someone to life if you’re just going to abandon them? Uran never met Tenma, but when she did, she’s going to give him a big piece of her mind. And apparently, he’s trying to take Astro back again. Really? It’s only after Astro makes a home and family for himself that he starts to care? Uran thought that that sounded really fake of him. She knows what happened really hurt her brother, because some nights she’ll hear him crying in his room upstairs, Jump whining sympathetically. She felt her heart hurt, and she wanted to go up there to check on him, but she wasn’t sure if she was welcome. She felt comfort that at least she knew what was bothering him. 

That was, until a week ago, when she started to have strange dreams. 

Some of them made sense about what she knew about Astro. She dreamed of Tenma being kind, and of Tenma yelling. They were strange, and sometimes sad, but they made sense. The ones that scared her were far more violent. She’d stand in what looked like a boxing ring, with a screaming crowd around her, and stare into the face of a robot 5 times her size. The crowd would scream at her to destroy the robot, and if she did, she’d feel so disgusting and the guilt would consume her as she stared at her hands. If she didn’t, a man with a whip would scream at her and hit her with an electric whip and it would hurt. She’d been hit by one of those whips before, but she didn’t remember it hurting so bad.

Uran would wake from these dreams trembling and terrified, before remembering that they weren’t real and none of it had happened to her. It didn’t stop her from worrying about it though. Did these things happen to her brother? If so, when? She couldn’t imagine her brother, who tried so hard to be brave and do the right thing, feeling so terrified and guilty under the piercing gaze of that horrible man. It almost hurt too much to think about. Still, it made a lot of sense. It explained why he would stare at his hands sometimes with an unreadable expression on his face. It explained why he would flinch violently when somebody yelled at him, and shrink away with wide eyes. It explained why he’d sometimes freeze in a fight, causing him to get hit. It might even explain why sometimes, his eyes would become unfocused, and he’d shiver and fold into himself and wouldn’t respond to her, Robita, or Ochanomizu. When he came out of those states, he’d look so tired and sad, and Ochanomizu would take him into his room and they would talk. Astro would usually stay in his room for the rest of the day. 

When Uran asked her dad about these days, he’d look at her sadly and tell her that Astro would tell her when he’s ready, and not to push the subject. So, she didn’t. She thought what she overheard about Tenma was probably the reason for at least the last one, but with this new information, all the pieces started to fit together.  
She sighed again, and turned to her side, putting her pillow over her head. She needed to talk to Astro about this, she decided. She hadn’t had a full nights sleep in a week. Granted, being a robot, it didn’t affect her too badly, but still. It was annoying. With this decided, she shut her eyes, and did her best to fall asleep.

The figure loomed, towering over them as they felt themselves shake with terror.  
The look in his eyes was crazed, wild, with the whip raised over his head, ready to strike.  
The words coming out of his mouth were completely incomprehensible, but they shook them to the very core.  
They were frozen, trembling as the towering monster’s sparking whip began to make it’s descent.  
And-

She woke with a scream caught in her throat. She shook violently and tried her best not to cry. It took a couple of seconds to realize where she was. She took deep breaths, despite not needing to breathe, and tried to clear her head. She blinked, then turned to look at the clock. 4:17. Frustration filled her as she turned and muffled a groan into her pillow. Why did this kind of stuff always have to happen to her? A wave of guilt hit her at that thought. If she’s having such a bad time, and this stuff didn’t even happen to her, how was Astro dealing with this?

She rolled off her bed and left her room. She made her way down the hall as quietly as she could, as to not wake her dad, and tip-toed to her brother’s door. Soft music made its way to her ears, which usually indicated her brother was awake. She didn't bother to knock. Opening his door, she saw him sitting on the windowsill. He was facing away from her, but she could see his hand casting through Jump's fur, laying in his lap dead asleep. He jumped and turned to face her at the sound, before relaxing. “Oh. Hey. Surprised to see you still up.” 

She hummed in response, crossing the room to sit next to him. Jump, now awake, crawled over to greet her. She rubbed his ears and smiled.  
After a few moments of silence, her brother asked, “Did you have a bad dream?” 

“...Yeah,” She admitted. She wasn’t really sure how to bring up what she wanted to ask him, so she left it at that. 

“Yeah,” he murmured. “Me too.” 

He didn’t seem bothered by what he just said. His face was calm, and his posture was relaxed. His hands were once again in Jump’s fur, who had returned to her spot on his lap. She took a deep breath. “You said you saw my memories when you were in my head, right?”

Astro seemed thrown off guard by her question, but nodded. “Yeah, some of them.”

“Do you still see them?” 

He met her eyes, brows furrowed in confusion. “What do you mean?”

She hesitated, trying to find the right words. “Like, do they still come to you sometimes? Like in a dream?”

He shook his head, looking thoughtful. “No. I mean, I remember what I saw when I was in there, but nothing new is coming to me now.” He paused, and a sudden, guarded look came across his face. He started to more deliberately rub Jump’s fur between his fingers. “...Why do you ask?”

She braced herself, deciding to bite the bullet. It was now or never. “I’ve been having these… dreams, ever since the thing happened. They don’t really make sense to me. I’ve never met anybody in them, and I haven’t been to any of the places. But the dreams are usually…” She took a breath. “really scary.” She looked back up at Astro, who was now very much not looking at her. He stared at his hands, which were now fidgeting with each other. “Big brother,” she started. “Did these things happen to you?”

It was a couple of seconds before he answered. “I-” He cut off, his voice shaky. He started again. “I… I really don’t know how to explain that to you, Uran.” He seemed to think for a moment, before asking, “What exactly did you see?” 

“Um.” She wasn’t sure how to articulate the dreams she kept having. “Well, they’re kinda vague, I guess. I remember a boxing ring, and a screaming guy, and he always had this whip-”  
She was cut off by a sharp inhale. She looked in alarm at her big brother, who squeezed his eyes shut and hunched into himself. He started to tremble. Jump seemed agitated, and he tried to stick his nose in between Astro’s arms and his body. She froze, unsure what to do. “Astro, are you ok?!” 

“Hm,” Astro managed to get out. He hadn’t moved from the position he was in. Jump managed to wriggle his head into Astro’s arms. Astro hugged him as tight as he dared. “Sorry- I just… I… I can’t-” 

After a moment of hesitation, Uran placed her hand on her brother’s clenched fist. Astro flinched and jerked his hand back. His eyes were filled with tears.  
Uran panicked. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to-”

“It’s okay.” Astro rubbed his face with his hands. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to freak out like that. I just... yeah. Your dreams are, well, yeah. They happened. I know… it’s messed up. I know.” He rubbed his face and sighed. The shaking had reduced dramatically, but he still looked shaken. “I’m sorry. You shouldn’t have to deal with this.”

“Astro, that’s dumb. We’re siblings. Last week you shrunk yourself down and entered my body to fight a bug. You could have died. I’m not going to leave you now.”

Astro blinked, shocked, then chuckled wetly. “I mean, I guess that makes sense. But still, it’s still kind of my fault that you’re having these dreams-”

“Nope!” She interrupted, popping the p. “The only person at fault was that weird short guy. He was the one who tried to kill me with a bug and tried to kidnap you. You’re not at fault, so stop.”  
He sighed with a small smile. She knew that there was no counter-argument to what she said.

They sat in silence for a while. Uran was still curious about what had happened, but she figured she wouldn’t get all the answers tonight. She knew what happened seriously hurt her brother. A sudden rage filled her. How could anyone be so heartless? If she met the man that did that to her brother, she might just break the first law of robotics. 

“I wasn’t created by Doctor Ochanomizu,” Astro said, interrupting her thoughts. “Did you know that?”

She hesitated before saying, “Yeah, I kinda figured that out. I overheard you and the Doctor talking. Tenma, right?”

Astro closed his eyes, sighing. “Yep, Doctor Tenma. He’s the one who created me. It’s… a really long and complicated story, but basically he had a kid named Tobio, who died. He went a little crazy with grief, and he created me to replace him. I became his son for a while.”

“That’s so…” Uran trailed off.

“Messed up, I know.” Astro laughed bitterly. “I played the role of his dead son for a really long time, until…” He stopped, and his face fell.  
“ Until?” Uran prompted gently.

Astro paused before continuing. “I don’t know what changed. I don’t think I did, but Da-Tenma started to treat me differently. He became so mean. He would yell at me for no reason and-” His voice became choked. Uran gently reached out her hand and laced her fingers through her brother’s. “He stopped saying he loved me. I don’t know what I did. I guess he just got tired of me. He took me to this scary place with all these strange people and robots in cages, and I didn’t know what to do.” He let out a sharp sob. Her hand squeezed his, and he squeezed back just as hard. “I didn’t know what he was doing until I was on a ship flying away. He sold me. And Hamegg-” Another sob wracked his body and he put his free hand over his eyes. “I- I’m sorry. I can’t.”

“It’s ok,” Uran said. She really didn’t know what else to say. Tears were welling up in her eyes too. “I just… God Astro.”  
The tears in his eyes had started falling, and she was pretty sure they weren’t stopping anytime soon, so she gently pulled him closer to her and wrapped her arms around him. He hugged back, crying into her shirt. “I didn’t want to hurt anyone,” He cried. “I'm sorry!”  
Her own tears fell and she gripped him tight. They stayed like that for a while, with her rubbing his back as he cried. Jump whined and put his head down on his owner’s knee. Eventually, the crying slowed to just short sniffles.  
“I’m really sorry,” his muffled voice said. “I didn’t mean to fall apart on you like that.”  
“S’okay,” she muttered. Her own crying had stopped by this point. “ That’s a lot of hurt to deal with, and you just carry on every day? You’re really brave, Astro.”  
“...Thanks.” He yawned. “We should probably actually try and get some sleep tonight.”  
Uran snorted. “It won’t be much, but sure.”  
The two robot children left the windowsill and climbed into the bed, followed by the fluffy Samoyed. It was a little cramped, but they managed to all fit.  
“Goodnight, Uran,” her tired mind managed to make out. She let out a sleepy response.  
“Night, big brother. ‘Love you.” She fell asleep before she could hear a response. 

Ochanomizu let them sleep til noon.


End file.
